Something Borrowed
by BFCAS
Summary: Max needs a sweatshirt, Chloe has a closet, the math does itself.


And Pricefield Week continues. Day three for three of writing and I'm feeling good! The prompt for today was Style/Always and I kind of used a bit of artistic license on those so this story keeps in line with them if you kind of squint? But it's a dumb idea that I couldn't get out of my head so here it is! If you liked this, then follow me over on Tumblr at bfcas00! Enjoy this pointless fluff piece!

...

Ever since she returned to Arcadia Bay a little under four months ago, Max had spent the majority of her time at Chloe's house, the once a week minimum sleepover routine well back in place; she loved the comfort that the old house brought. The delicious home cooking that Joyce would whip up that beat Blackwell canteen food a thousand times over, the lumpy old couch with the moth-eaten crochet blanket and the same double bed that Chloe had begged her parents to buy her for her thirteenth birthday all making it as nostalgic as possible. Max loved how, despite Chloe and David's bickering, the Price household was still her home away from home after all those years.

One thing that Blackwell had the Price house beat on, however, was the heating situation. Whereas her dorm room was always bordering on too warm with the excessive heating, Chloe's family couldn't really afford to leave the house at such a temperature. The house was always a little chilly and it meant that layers were a valuable resource.

Max pulled her grey hoodie tighter around her body as she sat working on some homework at the dining room table, feeling a shiver run across her skin with the December chill.

"You cold?"

Max looked up to Chloe, who sat across the table from her, her paperwork for Bay City College half complete and scattered untidily across her half of the table. She had a thick wool sweater on that Max was instantly jealous of and she hoped she didn't look too longingly at the article. Max shrugged, tapping her pencil on her Algebra book.

"Maybe just a little." She said sheepishly. "Do you mind if I borrow a sweater?"

Chloe nodded, waving a hand noncommittally as she returned her attention to the forms in front of her.

"Have at. Raid the closet and have whatever you can find." She told her, Max nodding in response as she stood. "But don't go in the shoebox on the top shelf! Not that there's anything in there. Just some stuff. Private stuff. Just… Just don't go in there!" Chloe rambled as Max walked away laughing.

"I promise I'll stay out of your box of secrets that absolutely definitely isn't porn." Max called as she climbed the stairs, laughing to herself at the noise of Chloe grumbling from downstairs.

She kept to her promise, leaving the mysterious shoe box alone despite all her nosy instincts calling at her to have a rummage. She ignored, choosing instead to go through the piles of hoodies and sweatshirts in Chloe's drawers and closet. She was trying to decide between a plain black pullover hoodie and a sweater with some band she didn't recognise on it when she saw something familiar in one of the messy piles in the corner of the closet.

She knelt down and pulled out the hoodie, holding it up to look at it. It was Chloe's crimson red griffin hoodie that she had worn as a kid. Max remembered how William had given it to Chloe when it became too small for him and how Chloe had worn it religiously for years and years, it always sitting too big on her despite her gangly height. The fact that she still had it all this time later, even though it would probably be just a shade too small on her now, showed that Chloe was as sentimental as ever.

Max tossed her other options back into the closet, knowing that in spite of the threadbare fabric and holes that had been worn into it, the red hoodie was definitely her choice. She pulled it over her head and put her arms through the too-long sleeves, laughing at how much bigger it was than Chloe ever made it look, even at 13. Chloe was always just so damn lanky, for as long as Max could remember.

Max brought the fabric of the sweater to her nose and breathed in, the smell of childhood hitting her so hard that she instantly felt five years younger. It was the smell of Chloe before she had discovered cigarettes and weed and it was such a comforting one that it made Max's heart warm. It was childhood and safety and love all in one confusing rush and Max didn't realise her eyes had welled with tears until one fell onto soft red fabric.

Realising that she had been gone long enough to make Chloe worry that she really was going through her secret shoebox (seriously, what did she keep hidden in that secret stash?), Max smoothed the hoodie once over before turning and heading back downstairs. She hopped down the last step to find Chloe making coffee in the kitchen, pouring an ungodly amount of sugar and cream into the blue otter mug that Max had bought her for Christmas.

"Thanks!" Max chirped as she entered the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Chloe to squeeze her in a hug from behind. Chloe laughed, leaning her head backwards until it rested on top of Max's, leaving her staring comically at the ceiling due to their height difference. Max giggled, releasing her hold on Chloe enough to allow Chloe to spin in her arms.

"Woah, holy shit," Chloe said, plucking at the shoulder of the hoodie. She wrapped her arms around Max's neck, one of her hands coming up to play with the back of Max's hair. "Throwback to the glory days much? I haven't worn that in years."

Max shrugged, a smile involuntarily spreading across her face at the feel of Chloe's gentle fingers fussing with her hair.

"Couldn't resist. Feels like a permanent hug from you." She beamed. Chloe made a bout of faux gagging noises at Max's cheesy comment, making Max laugh and shove her playfully away. Chloe instantly swooped her up in a bear hug, squeezing extra tight when Max attempted to wriggle away.

"You're such a goop!" Chloe yelled over Max's protests, both of them laughing as she did so. Chloe attacked her with a bout of kisses, landing them anywhere she could - from Max's cheek to her forehead to her eyebrow. She finally caught Max's lips and Max felt her smile as she stopped her squirming to just enjoy the contact. They broke apart after a long moment and Max felt her heart thud underneath the hoodie as Chloe smiled down at her.

"Such a goop," Chloe repeated, kissing Max on the end of the nose. "But always my goop." She smiled before leaning down to kiss her once again.


End file.
